Panera Bread — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I give up. Recently, I decided that I very much liked one of their baked goods. Consequently, I have attended the local Panera Bread location many times over the last month-ish (probably around 10 visits). These visits are nearly always in the morning while on the way to work, but the experience is remarkably similar at all times. Every visit was met with only one employee operating the register and at least 5 other employees performing other tasks. The employee at the register is invariably confounded by the requests of the (usually elderly) customer at the the register. Seemingly, the company places their most inexperienced employee at the register (they always have a hand-written name badge). There has not been a single visit where I did not wait at least 5 minutes for the SINGLE customer in front of me to successfully place an order, and usually the wait is significantly longer. And, on only one occasion did any of the other numerous employees man one of the other 4 or 5 registers to take my order. This, despite the fact that they always notice the employee at the register floundering mightily. It is ridiculous that a customer cannot simply walk into this establishment, select an already prepared item, and leave in less than 10 minutes. And, it is clear that the management is not the least bit concerned about this problem. The food is good (which is the only reason that I endured this long), but unless you are retired or job-less, and have all day to hang out at Panera, do yourself a favor and try a different brand of restaurant. Otherwise, you are guaranteed to leave frustrated, annoyed, late for work, and still hungry! Good...

I usually love Panera, so I decided to go there for lunch today to cheer me up. I have been feeling really bad for months and just spent the morning in the hospital getting tests done on my stomach because it is in really bad shape and they don't know what's wrong. So I ordered a panini and asked for no tomatoes on it because they are on my list of "do not eat" foods. She says that's fine and I go stand by the counter to pick up my order. All three women who are putting the food together start talking about this woman that just had to have no tomatoes. "Well she insisted over and over, so I guess we just have to give her what she wants! She's so special she gets her own special sandwich!" I was standing right there, the only person with a "to-go" order, and they just kept talking crap about me. It was completely ridiculous. I would have said something to them but I was speechless, and I think my face showed it. One of the women looked up at me and I think she realized that I was the "no tomatoes woman". She didn't say anything however, she just became quiet. I went home feeling even more awful than I was already. I just can't believe how rude they were for no reason. It's not like they made the sandwich over, they just removed the tomatoes from the sandwich. How big of a hassle is that?! I guess I'll just go back to eating at home, like I have been doing the last 4 months, if this is the type of service I am...

Rough day at Panera today. The cashier entered my order wrong, she changed my Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli into broccoli cheddar soup. I'm pointing this out to remind diners to ask for a receipt and then read it before stepping away from the counter. After you leave the order counter you will get exactly what the cashier enters.

They have a section on the receipt that states "Accuracy Matters your order should be correct every time. If it's not we'll fix it right away and give you a free treat for your trouble. Just let an associate know."

There were three people working and I spoke with all three of them. They said they gave me what was on the ticket. Yes they did, but it was not what I ordered. So stand in everybody's way at the register and try to read their abbreviated descriptions because once you step away from the register it's not going to be fixed.

The food is delicious at Panera, but what good does that do if you cannot get what you asked for? I left there as a very disappointed customer. Maybe another location or ordering from a screen so you can be sure they have it right will be a better option.

And this location today accuracy did not matter...